Blondies by a blondie

I used to buy a box mix of m&m blondies and make them with my mom all the time when I was growing up. Of course, they discontinued this mix (food I like ALWAYS get discontinued) so when I saw this blondies recipe on Just2Good's blog (who in turn got them from Lovestoeat's blog), I thought I could alter it just a bit to make it reminiscent of the blondies I used to love. They came out so yummy! I brought them to work and my coworker's raved. My husband loved them too and he's pretty picky with desserts (if it's not chocolate, he's usually not interested). I will definitely be making these again and again.











These pics didn't come out very good.. definitely let them cool before you cut into them because otherwise they fall apart. :)














Blondies
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
12 Tbsp (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 Cups brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 tsp vanilla extract
1 Cup chocolate chips
1 Cup baking m&m's or regular m&m's

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips and m&ms and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.

5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Chicken Piccata

I found a new blog to steal recipes from called Just2Good... and I already made two. The first one is this chicken piccata dish which was fairly easy. My breading didn't seem to want to stick and I used chicken tenderloins as she suggested but I think next time I would use chicken cutlets because they are thinner and usually more tender. In my constant quest to use as few ingredients as possible (yes, I'm that lazy of a cooker), I omitted the garlic/shallot ingredient and the parsley and thought it still came out very tasty, but I will leave it in the directions in case you want to use it. I also did not use any salt because I try to void salt when possible. Other than that, this was a good recipe and I loved the lemon flavor.

Chicken Piccata
Ingredients:
2 large lemons
6-8 chicken breast tenderloins
salt & pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small shallot, minced or 1 small garlic clove, minced
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp small capers, drained
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp minched fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, set large heatproof plate on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees.

Halve one lemon pole to pole. Trim ends from one half and cut crosswise into slices 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick; set aside. Juice remaining half and whole lemon to obtain 1/4 cup juice, reserve.

Sprinkle both sides of cutlets generously with salt and pepper. Measure flour into pie tin or shallow baking dish. Working with one cutlet at a timme, coat with flour, and shake to remove excess.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add 2 Tbsp of oil and swirl to coat pan. Lay half of chicken pieces in skillet (or all if you can fit them). Saute chicken without moving them, until lightly browned on the first side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Turn cutlets and cook until second side is lightly browned, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and transfer chicken to the plate in the oven. Add remaining tablespoons oil to the now-empty skillet and heat until simmering. Add remaining chicken and repeat.

Add shallot or garlic to the empty skillet and return skillet to medium heat. Saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds for the shallot or 10 seconds for garlic. Add stock and lemon slices, increase heat to high, and scrape skillet bottom with wooden spoon or spatula to loosen browned bits. Simmer until liquid reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice and capers and simmer until sauce reduces again to 1/3 cup, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and swirl in butter until it melts and thickens sauce. Add parsley. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately

More Panko... Chicken Pasta

I told you I love Panko.. I was not kidding. This is another recipe that is similar to my 3P chicken but it is a pasta dish and also very easy. Do we notice a theme here? When I make this meal, I usually do two version - one with Alfredo sauce and one with tomato sauce because I prefer Alfredo but my husband prefers the latter. It's pretty easy to customize it with whatever sauce you like. Recently a friend came over and when I made this and he made a sauce with 1 part Alfredo, 1 part Tomato, and about a half a shot of vodka. So it's pretty open to your interpretation!













































Ingredients

1 box of Angel Hair or Thing Spaghetti Pasta
1 carton of cherry tomatoes
Appx 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1 pkg chicken filets or boneless breasts
Alfredo sauce OR Tomato Sauce -- your preference
olive oil

Boil water in pot and cook pasta according to directions on box.

While pasta is cooking - Heat pan over medium-high heat, add a few tsps of olive oil to coat pan. Wash cherry tomatoes and put in pan, turning over frequently so all sides get heat. Cut chicken filets or breasts into small bite-sized pieces and sautee in pan, flipping over until both sides are lightly browned and chicken is cooked all the way through. Add a bit more oil to pan and pour panko breadcrumbs into pan. Using wood spoon, mix ingredients in pan and allow breadcrumbs to turn a golden color.

Drain pasta. Put pasta on plate and spoon chicken and tomato breadcrumb mixture over pasta. Pour sauce of choice over pasta.

This meal takes appx. 30 minutes from start to finish.

3P Chicken

I am really trying to add more to my food blog to help myself keep track of my recipes AND to inspire other lazy cookers like me. :) If I can do it, so can you! So I've made a few things lately but just didn't get around to blogging them until now. Here we go..........


I am obsessed with Panko breadcrumbs.. I will admit it right now. I try to use them in every dish I possibly can. They are amazing. If you haven't tried them, go to the store and get them - they are usually right next to the regular breadcrumbs. They are bigger, crunchier, and just better overall in my opinion!
So this chicken is my invention based on some chicken dishes I have had at restaurants like Cheesecake Factory and BJ's Brewery that use similar ingredients. My husband and I love this chicken dish and it is SO easy to make.
I named it 3P Chicken because it's basically Panko, Parmesan, and Pesto.

Ingredients -
Chicken cutlets
olive oil
1 egg
Appx 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Appx 1 cup parmesan and romano shredded cheese
Alfredo Sauce
1 spoonfull of premade pesto sauce

Directions
Heat pan on medium-high burner, coat pan with olive oil.
Put chicken cutlets between to sheets of wax paper or saran wrap and pound thin. Whisk egg in shallow bowl. Mix panko and cheese in another shallow bowl or plate. Dip chicken in egg first, then coat both sides with breadcrumb cheese mixture. Put chicken in pan. Flip when bottom side is golden brown.
In a small microwaveable bowl, pour appx. 1 cup of alfredo sauce and add about a spoonfull of pesto. Mix and cover with saran wrap. Heat in microwave for about 30 seconds or until hot. Do not overheat.
When both sides of chicken are gold brown, cut into chicken to make sure there is no pink remaining. Pour sauce on chicken.

I typically serve these with a side of potatos. I love Diner's Choice refridgerated garlic mashed potatos.. it's an easy side dish and delicious. Enjoy!